The Changes of The Nightmare
by Broccoli2002
Summary: Jake notices weird things in the Nightmare. Is it all just coincidences, or is there some semblance of clues left to tie them all together? Or is Jake just overthinking this? My attempt at a short story to sate my craving for this game.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there. I know, I promised updates on Story of My Weird Life, but I fell out of the Pokemon love for a while. I promise it will be back, as soon as some new game comes out, or I reread the manga several times over. But meanwhile, to sate my thirst for gore and blood, I have been interested by Dead By Daylight. It's a great game, but I'm poor, and therefore have to be satisfied with gameplay footage by Youtubers. Sucks, I know. I also noticed the lack of fanfiction on the game, and therefore have decided to sort the problem out myself. I have no idea how this turned out, my first attempt on something angsty and dark since a while, so do leave some feedback. I still think myself as a new and fairly bad writer, so feedback is always appreciated. I should stop rambling. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Dead By Daylight. If I did, I would get off my poor ass and do something with my life.**

* * *

The first sign was when Jake heard the shriek.

It was a quick trial, with everyone getting generators running in a short amount of time. They were at the Coldwind Farms, which Jake knew like the back of his hand, since he has been here multiple times. The Wraith, which was sent to be the killer of the trial, only managed to injure a few of them. Nothing healing couldn't fix, albeit temporarily, until they got back to the campfire.

Jake was the last one to escape. He had to distract the Wraith, giving the injured Dwight and Meg some time to open the doors and leave. He ran around the arena, jumping across windows and pulling down pallets when needed. Jake wasn't the fastest of the group, but he certainly wasn't slow. He had no idea how long he was trapped in the Nightmare, but it did have some benefits to his physical fitness.

Jake vaulted across a fallen pallet, before making his way back to the door that Meg and Dwight were opening. Hopefully, Claudette made her way out with the door, too. Jake rushed towards the open door, now in his sights. He grinned, glad that everyone managed to survive this time. He was at the exit when he heard it.

A wailing shriek piercing through the air.

It was nothing Jake ever heard before. It was far different than the Wraith's normal voice, and nothing like the other killers. It was even different from the Nurse's yell, and she wouldn't even be here in the first place. So, what was that?

Jake hesitated to leave, curiosity taking over the adrenaline in his body. He crouched and slowly made his way back to the area he heard the shriek from. Common sense told him to leave and survive, but common sense was out the window ever since they were here.

Well, might as well.

Jake crawled around the corn plants, trying to stay low and disturbing the plants as little as possible. He slowly moved towards the barn, where the sound was coming from. When he was close to the entrance, he heard another sound.

Sobbing.

 _What could that be,_ Jake thought to himself. There should be no one left, and he doubted that the Wraith would still be here. After all, the trial was sort of over, was it not? Well, Jake was still here, so the trial could be not over until he left.

Jake got onto his stomach, doing an army crawl to the entrance of the barn, and his eyes widened at what he saw. He stifled a gasp with his arm, trying to not make noise as much as possible.

There was the Wraith, sitting in a dark corner of the barn. He was sobbing, black tears running off his face. The weapon he held during the trial was flung to the side, and the bell he carried beside the club. The Wraith was shivering, even though it was relatively warm.

"What…" Jake whispered to himself. The Wraith, an emotionless killer who managed to slaughter his friends multiple times, was crying? Why? And how? Jake, driven by his curiosity, slowly stood up, and walked silently to the crying killer. Every sane part of his mind is screaming at him, telling him that this was a bad idea and he should get the hell out of here.

Yet, something pulled him towards the despaired killer in front of him. Call it instinct, but he couldn't leave the man alone.

He was in the middle of the barn when the Wraith looked up. Jake froze, not daring to move. Their eyes locked, and Jake gasped. He never actually got a good look at the Wraith, since he was running for his life, and he didn't expect it.

The Wraith's face was dark, with white stripes of paint going across his face. Bright glowing eyes met Jake's, and his mouth was turned into a frown. However, that wasn't the shocking part.

He had scars running across his face, some looking fresh. Tear stains were all over his face, some covering up the white paint. The cloth around his body looked freshly coated in blood, and Jake saw the despair in the eyes of the Wraith. Jake couldn't comprehend how emotional the supposed emotionless killer in front of him was being. The Wraith just stared, before looking away, and getting up.

Jake backed up, before making a run for the exit. He had seen too much, and he knew he had to go. He ran out, returning to the mist, and soon arriving at the campfire that served as their home base.

Everyone had left, probably to another trial, leaving Jake alone at the fireplace. He sat down by the campfire, thinking of what he just saw.

* * *

The next sign were the crows.

Jake knew he had a natural attraction to animals. He did live in the woods while he ran away from home, and living there helped him understand animals and communicate with them.

So when he entered the Nightmare, he was shocked when he realized the abundant amount of crows flying about, within and outside of trials. The crows also had red eyes, which were definitely abnormal. This, combined with the Entity, which is said to watch over the trials and both sides, led Jake to believe the crows serve as the Entity's eyes and ears.

Jake knew that the crows were all over the field in a trial, but what were they watching? If the killers were as bloodthirsty and emotionless as they seem to be, and the Entity powerful as it should be, then there really was no reason for it to watch the trials. It could just wait for the sacrifices given by the killer, or just watch from the sky, letting the killers go wild.

So why were the crows there?

Jake wasn't a genius, but he was not an idiot, by any chance. Something was amiss in the Nightmare, and he was close to figuring it out. He had mentioned this to his fellow survivors, but they decided that it was just the Entity playing tricks, or that it wanted a close view of what was happening. Jake accepted these theories, but something didn't sit right with Jake's honed natural instincts.

If his hypothesis was right, then they needed to do something about it. The only reason the Entity would have to keep a close eye, would be the killers.

The survivors were victims in the scenario. Run, survive, escape. They couldn't do anything to get out otherwise, and are trapped in every way. They had no option. Live or die. They were stuck in this purgatory until the Entity got bored of them.

But the killers were different. They were the ones who supposedly work for the Entity. They were the ones with options. They could kill, do the Entity's work and be the servants they were meant to be, or they could spare, thus betraying the Entity and siding with the survivors.

Therefore, if the crows are there, they must be to keep the killers in line. Making sure they do their task of killing, and sacrificing the survivors to the Entity. There would be no reason for the crows to spectate the trial otherwise.

But that changes a lot of things.

If that was true, then the killers could be seen as the same as the survivors. People with no choices. They were as trapped as they were, with no choice but to kill.

And that would mean that the Wraith was sobbing in despair the other day, of the situation they were in. The scars could be caused by the Entity, for not sacrificing the survivors well enough. The four of them did escape that day, leaving the Entity possibly mad and unsatisfied, resulting in it lashing out on the Wraith. That could have been the shriek he heard.

The pieces began fitting in, and Jake shuddered at the grandness of this plan the Entity concocted. There was no way, right? It's just his imagination, and he's just going nuts. Jake sighed, before lying down on the earth.

No, he's thinking too much into it. That would mean that the killers were being forced to kill them, but if that was the case, why didn't they show any signs of remorse? Yeah, that was it.

Jake got up when he heard groans coming from the mist. It seems everyone has returned from their trial.

But, one last question lingered in his head.

Why did the crows like him so much?

* * *

The final sign was the voices.

Jake was once again in a trial, running for his dear life. It was the Nurse this round, with her strangled yells and moans. Jake moved quickly, while also making many turns. He knew the Nurse could warp, therefore making running in a straight line a terrible idea.

Pulling down a pallet, Jake managed to stun the Nurse, giving him ample amount of time to escape. While the Nurse was distracted by Jake, Nea managed to get another generator, leaving them with only one more. Jake ran into the ruins of the Crotus Prenn Asylum, seeing Dwight already on the generator on the lower floor. He crouched beside him, and began working on the generator as well.

Jake fit the cogs in, untangled the wires, patched up the holes in some wires, and soon, it was good to go. Dwight nodded towards Jake, and they both moved slowly, leaving no tracks to alert the Nurse of their whereabouts. However, a trial wasn't that simple.

The Nurse warped towards Jake, and Jake and Dwight split to different directions. They agreed that if one of them was ever chased, that they would try to take the killer away from everyone. He tried to escape by repeatedly jumping across windows and turning quickly, but it seems the Nurse caught on. The next time Jake vaulted across a window, she was there, swinging her bonesaw.

It caught Jake on his chest, leaving a slash from his left shoulder to his stomach. He yelled out, before running quickly. He knew he probably won't make it this round, but he'll do his damn best to make sure he put up a fight before it. If he's going down, he'll be the distraction for the others to get out. A piece of his soul for the others. God, how cliché is that.

The Nurse did catch up, slashing at Jake's back, and Jake crumpled to the ground. He groaned from the pain, feeling the blood leave his body from both sides. The green jacket he had on was soaked through, but it didn't matter. It'll be clean when he returns to the campfire. Jake felt his body float, and land onto the Nurse's shoulder. He struggled as much as possible, but it didn't work. With the aid of her powers, the Nurse had a strong grip on Jake.

Jake was brought to a hook, and he braced for the excruciating pain from his left shoulder once more. However, it didn't come. Jake opened his eyes, seeing something that was shocking once again.

The limbs of the Entity were stretching out towards him.

Jake struggled, trying to get off the Nurse's shoulder, and to crawl away from this as soon as possible. Whatever was happening, it was new, and in this world, keeping from change is the best you can do. And if the Entity is reaching for you abnormally, then you know something is up.

Jake tried, but it is impossible to outrun a deity. The Entity pierced through Jake's right calf, causing him to lose balance and fall on the ground. He yelled, before feeling another pain flow through his body from his left thigh.

Jake tried to grab onto something, _anything_ , just to get out of the predicament he was in. Whether for better or worse, he knew something will happen to him. And he was doubting the Entity would do anything good. Tears began pooling in Jake's eyes, as he felt the arms circle around his torso.

The Nurse was watching all of this, but something seemed different. Jake thought he saw the bag on the Nurse's head dampen, and his ears picked up on a sound he have never heard from the killers.

Whimpers of fear.

Jake's eyes widened, and the Nurse seemed to be looking towards Jake, with how her head was positioned. He heard a quiet voice, wondering where it came from.

" _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, forgive me, I'm sorry,"_ was all it said, repeated over and over in a never-ending mantra. Jake let out a gasp at the feminine voice. The only female voice near all of it to be in hearing range was the Nurse.

Was she talking to him? Or the Entity?

Jake screamed as he felt one more arm enter his body, this time piercing through his chest. Jake felt his heartbeat ringing in his ears, before slowly falling flat, fading away. He felt the pain in his body envelop him, and soon he faded into unconsciousness.

However, before he did, one last thing ringed in his ears.

" _I'm sorry, you'll have to be one of us, forgive me, I'm sorry."_

* * *

 **Now, should I continue this into a longer story, or should I just keep it a one chapter story like the others? Leave a review, message me, whatever. I'm interested to hear what you guys have to say.**


	2. Update after a century

**So, I haven't touched this baby in like, what, a year or two. I got lazy. I wanted to post it here, but I found the traffic on this site for the DBD fanbase to be quite lacking, so I posted this chapter on here and continued the story over on AO3. Go check it out. It's like Chapter 13 or something already, somehow. I really should start writing again, but I've been so busy with life in general. Therefore, whenever I get the chance, I'll upload there. I'm working on the next chapter, promise. It's just taking an entire school semester to do it. I got this, trust me.**


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